/Ethan McGrath
Ethan McGrath
College of the Holy Cross, 2023, Studio Art
Finding Atmosphere
ceramic, wood, glaze, gold leaf, wire
19″ x 23″ x 10.5″
2022
These lungs grew from the time surrounding the pressures of fall respiratory infections, flu season, and the COVID-19 pandemic reaching its third anniversary. The respiratory system allows us to breathe. Alveoli increase the diffusion of gases between the lungs and the blood by enhancing the lung surface area, yet these lungs lack internal structures. As seen from the back of the anatomical left lung, a strange river flows from an interior world. The hollow nature leaves interpretation to the imagination and offers a moment of escape from the harsh realities of the present.
Ethan McGrath
College of the Holy Cross, 2023, Studio Art
Allegory of the Cave
acrylic, oil, spray paint, and gold leaf on custom wooden cabinet
14″ x 16″ x 2″
2022
By juxtaposing this painting with my sculpture “Finding Atmosphere,” I reveal the physical manifestations that a painting can produce. I worked simultaneously on each piece while thinking about the idea of a make-believe world. Even though they may seem unrelated at first, they are tied together by the power of gold, curiosity, and by illustrating humankind’s existence in the universe. Even though humans are limited by their mortality, their ideas, dreams, philosophies, and imaginations are unconfined. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which deals with the “effect of education and the lack of it on our nature” inspired this curious cabinet.